Chapter 58: Plans
Hana braced herself against the pillar where Arexa had impacted, spitting blood. The surge of power that had fueled her desperate punch still hummed within her, but it felt thin now, brittle. Blood trickled from her nose, dripped from her lip where she’d bitten it. She swayed, a wave of dizziness washing over her.
On the dais, Gary started to cheer, "Yeah! Take that, bitch!" but his voice died as he saw Hana stagger.
"Wait," Lucas breathed, his eyes wide behind his glasses, fixed on Hana. "Her energy signature... it’s fluctuating wildly. It’s plummeting, but the output is... unnatural. It’s like she’s..." He trailed off, the implication dawning. "Life force. She’s burning her own life force."
Susan’s head snapped towards Lucas, then back to Hana, horror replacing the relief on her face. "What? Burning her life? For this?"
Mary gripped her sword hilt tighter, her knuckles white. "Hana..."
Across the hall, Arexa pushed herself up from the base of the pillar. She brushed a fleck of stone dust from her shoulder armor. The powerful punch had left no visible mark beyond a slight indentation on her segmented chest plate. Her six crimson eyes fixed on Hana, colder and sharper than before, stripped of all amusement.
"You surprised me, little human," her melodic voice was flat now, devoid of its earlier taunting lilt. "Careless of me." A faint, crimson aura began to shimmer around her, pulsing like heat haze. The air grew thick with killing intent. "Playtime is over."
The Queen watched from her throne, her expression one of mild disappointment. She rested her chin back on her hand, her gaze flicking between Hana and Arexa. "Finish it, Arexa. This display grows tiresome."
Arexa didn’t need telling twice. She moved, not with the dancing grace of before, but with the direct, brutal speed of an executioner. The whip cracked, not just a single lash, but a blinding series of strikes from multiple angles simultaneously.
Hana met the onslaught, fueled by the rapidly diminishing dregs of her life force. Her sword became a shield, deflecting blows that would have shattered bone. She moved with a speed that belied her injuries, parrying a thrust aimed at her throat, ducking under a vicious horizontal sweep.
She even managed a quick counter-attack, her blade slicing Arexa’s arm – a shallow wound that barely bled before the crimson aura seemed to seal it.